http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A highly underutilized anesthesia technique called neuraxial anesthesia, also known as spinal or epidural anesthesia, improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. The study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Anesthesiology, found that neuraxial anesthesia, a type of regional anesthesia, reduced morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay and costs when compared with general anesthesia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-regional-anesthesia-technique-significantly-outcomes.html Surgery Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:07 EST news286563849 Stems cells taken from just a few grams of body fat are a promising weapon against the crippling effects of osteoarthritis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-stem-cells-arthritis.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:50:01 EST news286392514 Many of the most common inpatient surgeries in the United States are performed electively. These surgeries are expected to significantly increase with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. In a new perspectives article, published in the Dec. 27 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are recommending the nation's health care leaders and medical community join forces to establish evidence-based appropriateness criteria to determine which patients are most in need of elective procedures, such as joint replacement surgery, to slow the projected surge in demand and rising costs. Currently, there are no appropriateness criteria for most of the common elective procedures. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-doctors-evidence-based-appropriateness-criteria-elective.html Other Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:14:54 EST news275836479 Of the one million people each year who get hips and knees replaced, as many as 20,000 will get an infection in the new joint, a number that is expected to skyrocket in the next 20 years. Multispecialty physician teams need to work together to reduce disability, death and costs associated with the ever-growing number of these prosthetic joint infections, note the first guidelines on the topic being released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-idsa-guidelines-aim-death-disability.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 07 Dec 2012 02:50:05 EST news274070013 After total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, patients who are morbidly obese have similar pain and function outcomes as patients who do not fall into this weight category, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. The finding is surprising given that numerous studies have shown that obese patients have worse outcomes. The study will be reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, to be held Nov. 9-14, in Washington D.C. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-overturns-common-assumption-knee-morbidly.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Sun, 11 Nov 2012 08:25:41 EST news271844685 Two new studies by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have overturned common beliefs about joint replacement in patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-impact-rheumatoid-arthritis-lupus-joint.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Sun, 11 Nov 2012 08:22:19 EST news271844507 Patients who make $35,000 a year or less report better outcomes after knee replacement surgery than people who earn more, research by Mayo Clinic and the University of Alabama at Birmingham shows. The lower-income patients studied reported less pain and better knee function at their two-year checkups than wealthier people did. The study was being presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting in Washington. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-lower-income-patients-fare-wealthier-knee.html Surgery Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:30:03 EST news271662858 Research from the Rothman Institute at Jefferson has shown aspirin to be just as effective as warfarin in preventing clots, specifically pulmonary emboli, life-threatening blood clots that can develop in the arteries of the lungs following joint replacement surgery. Their research was recognized as one of the best poster presentations at the recent American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons meeting in Dallas. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-aspirin-effective-clots-joint-surgery.html Cardiology Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:04:01 EST news271591419 Obese patients have a greater risk of complications following total knee replacement surgery, including post-surgical infections, according to a new literature review recently published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). Because of complications, obese patients are more likely to require follow-up surgery (revision). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-knee-easy-solution-obese-patients.html Overweight and Obesity Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:10:02 EST news270305759 Treatment with denosumab, a drug targeted against a protein that helps promote bone destruction, decreased the number of tumor giant cells in patients with giant-cell tumor of the bone, and increased new bone formation, according to the results of a phase II study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-denosumab-burden-giant-cell-tumor-bone.html Cancer Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:41:14 EST news267446466 Using a hand held device the size of a computer mouse for just 30 minutes could significantly change how people deal with, and recover from, the pain associated with musculoskeletal conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-held-device-muscle-pain-minutes.html Medical research Fri, 07 Sep 2012 09:51:06 EST news266230229 Patients who have had metal-on-metal hip replacements are no more likely to develop cancer in the first seven years after surgery than the general population, although a longer-term study is required, a study published in the British Medical Journal today claims. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-metal-on-metal-hip-patients-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:30:02 EST news252689459 Methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA) infections are resistant to antibiotics and can cause a myriad of problems -- bone erosion, or osteomyelitis, which shorten the effective life of an implant and greatly hinder replacement of that implant. MRSA can result in prolonged disability, amputation and even death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-immunization-mrsa-horizon.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:37:01 EST news248459752 A study by Hospital for Special Surgery researchers has provided the first comprehensive look at just how metal-on-metal total hip replacements are failing in patients around the country. Made possible by what is thought to be the largest archive of failed joint replacements, the research should help doctors develop a better hip replacement for future patients. The study will be reported at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Feb. 7-11. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-archive-joint-hip.html Other Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:20:02 EST news247895087 Following a total joint replacement, anticoagulation (blood thinning) drugs can prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot deep within the extremities, or a pulmonary embolism (PE), a complication that causes a blood clot to move to the lungs. However, prolonged use of these therapies may increase the risk of hemorrhage and infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-aspirin-dvt-pe-joint-patients.html Other Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:50:02 EST news247854776 The elevated risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) – a blood clot that travels from the leg to the lungs – following total joint replacement (TJR) surgery has been well established, yet little is known about the natural course and timing of this potentially fatal condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-pulmonary-embolism-greatest-week-total.html Other Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:28:25 EST news247854499 US baby boomers are fueling a wave of joint replacement surgeries, hoping to use new artificial knees and hips to stay active as they get older. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-baby-boomers-joint.html Other Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:40:01 EST news242228314 Surprising results from a new study revealed that men who smoke had less risk of undergoing total joint replacement surgery than those who never smoked. Researchers also reported that men who were overweight, or who engaged in vigorous physical activity were more likely to need arthroplasty. Details of this study are now available in Arthritis & Rheumatism,a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-male-smokers-joint-surgery-hip.html Other Fri, 08 Jul 2011 03:09:09 EST news229313335 Patients who undergo elective total hip or total knee arthroplasty at hospitals with lower surgical volume had a higher risk of venous thromboembolism and mortality following the procedure. The complications following joint replacement surgery at low-volume sites may be reduced by modifying systems and procedures used before and after surgery according to the findings published today in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-joint-surgery-riskier-hospitals-surgical.html Other Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:33:19 EST news226639980 A new test shows promise for detecting the early stages of a major cause of failure in joint replacement implants, so that patients can be treated and perhaps avoid additional surgery. More than 1.5 million total joint replacement operations are performed worldwide each year. While the success rate is 90 per cent, almost 10 per cent of implants fail and require additional surgery, report appears in the ACS journal Molecular Pharmaceutics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-joint-failure.html Medical research Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:40:02 EST news223119590